Board Members

Preston Manning, PC CC AOE is Founder and President of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, which he founded in 2005.

Mr. Manning served as a member of Parliament from 1993 to 2001. He founded two political parties – the Reform Party of Canada and the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance – both of which became the official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament, and laid the foundation for the new Conservative Party of Canada. Mr. Manning served as Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2000 and was also his party’s science and technology critic. In 2007, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada and in 2013 was appointed to the Privy Council.

Mr. Manning graduated from the University of Alberta with a BA in Economics and provided consulting services to the energy industry for twenty years before entering the political arena. He has received honorary degrees from the University of Calgary, University of Alberta, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Tyndale University College, York University, and the University of Toronto.

Mr. Manning resides in the city of Calgary with his wife, Sandra. The Mannings have five grown children and ten grandchildren.

Preston Manning is happy to speak at your event on the following topics:

Strengthening the knowledge and skills of political practitioners

Market-based solutions to public issues

“So you think you want to run for public office?”

Green Conservatism

Navigating the Faith-Political Interface – Lessons from Wilberforce on how to campaign on a moral issue

Cliff Fryers is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the White Iron Group of Companies, of Stampede Entertainment Inc., as well as Chairman of the Board of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.

During the 1990s, Fryers played an active role in the creation and development of the federal Reform Party of Canada. He also served as Chief of Staff to Preston Manning.

Fryers also worked as a Senior Tax Partner and Managing Partner with the law firm of Milner Fenerty LLP (now Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP).

Fryers also worked in the Tax Litigation Section of the Department of Justice, Ottawa and as General Counsel for Mobil Oil Canada Ltd.

Anderson has spent over 20 years in and around federal politics, including over 10 years as an active liberal and almost a decade as a Reformer.

These days, Anderson pursues his political interests – in particular democratic reform – through less-partisan, non-partisan or cross-partisan initiatives such as the Fireweed Democracy Project and Fair Vote Canada.

Anderson is also a frequent public affairs commentator in national media such as CBC TV and CBC Newsworld, CBC Radio, the Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen and the Edmonton Journal.

Leah Costello is an event host, writer, and media commentator based in West Vancouver. In 2010 she founded the Curious Mind Group of Companies with the goal of enriching the world through the cross-pollination of ideas.

CMG now curates and produces over 100 events per year including a popular Books Sandwiched In lunch series featuring popular authors, Art of War conversations with entrepreneurs sharing their stories, ideas excursions to national & international destinations, policy summits, and event partnerships with organizations including the Economist magazine and Moses Znaimer’s ideacity.

Leah is often found discussing ideas on radio, television, & in the print media, as well as through her blog at www.leahcostello.com.

Nigel took a leave of absence from Onex from 2010 to 2014 to work as Chief of Staff for the Prime Minister of Canada. Prior to joining Onex in 1997, Nigel was a partner at the law firm of Davies, Ward & Beck. He has been involved in volunteer work for the Out-of-the-Cold programme for the homeless, for Camp Oochigeas, an organization providing a residential summer camp and other programming for children with cancer, and for the Ottawa Mission. He has been a director of several charities and foundations, including being a founding director of the MasterCard Foundation.

Nigel holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, an LL.B (Honours) from the University of Toronto Law School and a B.A. (cum laude) in Politics and Economics from Trinity College at the University of Toronto.